The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Astilbe plant, botanically known as Astilbe hybrid, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name `Touch of Pink`.
The new cultivar is a peoduct of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Noorden, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new freely-flowering compact Astilbe cultivars.
The new cultivar originated from a cross made by the Inventor in 1992 of the Astilbe simplicifolia cultivar `Hennie Graafland`, not patented, as the male or pollen parent, with the Astiebe japonica cultivar `Europa`, not patented, as the female or seed parent.
The cultivar `Touch of Pink` was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Noorden, The Netherlands.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar by divisions harvested at Noorden, The Netherlands, has shown that the unique features of this new Astilbe are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.